390 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAY at. H4(t. 



any crop which I am in the habit of growing. Less i 

 liable to be injuriously affected by the vicissitudes 

 of the season, or the alternation of dryness and I 

 moisture, than a crop of corn or potatoes. 

 With great respect, 



Vour obedient servant, 

 Mr Henry Colma.n. E. PHfNNEY. 



We have much pleasure in presenting to our 

 readers, which we propose to do in several num- 

 bers, some " Wanderings in the West" in the sum- 

 mer of 1839. The manuscript has been kindly put 

 into our hands and we shall avail ourselves largely 

 of its contents. They constitute the journal of an 

 intelligent traveller, a fvlassachusetts faimor, who 

 at one time, in common with many others, felt a 

 strong disposition to emigrate into this land of 

 promise, flowing with milk and honey. His obser- 

 vations arc intelligent and sober, and bear every 

 mark of candor and truth. The "western fever," 

 so graphically described in the introduction, is not 

 now so epidemic, nor of so aggravated a type, as it 

 was sometime since. The observatiens of this 

 calm observer will moderate its violence with some, 

 and operate as a security against infection with 

 otiicrs. At the same time they will greatly assist 

 in the decision of a question which is still agitat- 

 ing the minds of many ; and will lead to those rea- 

 sonable expectations and that sober and deliberate 

 judgment, which may save them from bitter disap- 

 pointments. 



We shall, with leave, give the name of the au- 

 thor at the close of the publication. H. C. 



WANDERINGS IN THE WEST IN 18;?9. 

 No. I. 



THE WESTERN FEVER. 



This dreadful disease has prevailed as an epi- 

 demic for several years, throughout New England, 

 and to some e.xtent in the Middle States, and has 

 often proved fatal, if not to the lives, at least to the 

 happiness of those who have had the misfortune to 

 be attacked with it. 



Having been afflicted with 'this disease myself, 

 and seen many others suffering fnom its attacks, T 

 liave become familiar with its symptoms in all its' 

 stages. When first attacked, the patient becomes 

 excited with wonder and admiration, dreams of un- 

 limited wealth, in the possession of countless acres 

 in the far west, waving with golden wheat, and corn 

 produced almost without labor — of broad fields of 

 luxuriant grass, supporting innumerable cattle, 

 sheep, Tud the njost beautiful horses; all minister- 

 ing to the wealth and pleasure ufthe happy owner ; 

 and anon, a splendid mansion rises into view, and 

 spacious stables, and barns filled with the rich pro- 

 ducts of the fields and meadons, while the farm- 

 yard swarms with pigs and poultry, the neii;hbor- 

 ing commons abound with game ; as he walks out 

 into tlie lawns he is delighted to see the wild deer 

 lightly hounding away before him, and tlie crystal 

 streams seemingly alive with a great variety of the 

 most delicious fish, and he enjoys all these without 

 toil or trouble. The possessor of this elysiuin has 

 apparently less care and perplexity than the eastern 

 farmer who tills the ungrateful soil of New Eng- 

 land ; his brow is unwrinkled, his placid counte- 

 nance beams with contentment and unmingled hap- 

 piness. 



At length the excitement begins to subside, and 

 he eays to himself, " I will not be led away by idle 

 tales ; 1 will oblain correct information and 



deliberate calmly upon the subject, and will he gov- 

 erneil by the dictates of sober judgment" — and 

 straightway he reads an extravagant account of the 

 happy land, written perhaps by some speculator in 

 western hinds, and is persuaded that his dream is 

 in fact the picture of the real situation which awaits 

 him there. He then compares the very great ad- 

 vantages of the west with those of his present situ- 

 ation, too often overlooking altogether his social 

 privileges, and the pleasures which every person 

 derives from the scenes of his early associations ; 

 and, throwing into the balance the numerous petty 

 evils to which he is continually exposed, he comes 

 to the conclusion that the west is altogether prefe- 

 rable to the east. 



During this stage, the patient may be seen stand- 

 ing in moody silence in his fields, or perhaps lean- 

 ing upon his tools, or against the fence, uncon- 

 sciously whittling away the sharp corners of the 

 rails and posts. His fields appear to him to be 

 poor and sterile, the crops scarcely compensating 

 him for his labor ; tlic grass does not grow so tall 

 or look so green as it formerly did; and even the 

 sun, which whilom shone sobrightly apon the beau- 

 tiful scene around him, now seems to his jaundiced 

 eyes to shine with pale and powerless rays. 



Every day his conviction of the superiority of 

 the west grows stronger ; he becomes gloomy, and 

 sometimes is overwiielmed with a hypochondriacal 

 affection, popularly called the horrors. 



When the disease arrives to this stage, there is 

 no remedy but removal. The patient is aroused 

 only by the prospect of selling his property, he 

 heeds not at what sacrifice ; — this accomplished, his 

 former excitement returns — his eyes sparkle, his 

 wliole countenance beams with delight, — he packs 

 up a few things which he deems necessary for him- 

 self and family, and hurries away to that land where 

 his most sanguine wishes are to be realised. 



There may be some variation in the outward 

 symptoms of the disease in difl^erent individuals, 

 owing to the difference of constitutions, or to tiie 

 greater or less violence of the attack; but I think 

 that the above description will be found correct in 

 the main, and the least experienced witl be able to 

 detect the disease by the presence of some or all 

 of these symptoms. 



On the ](ith of May, 1839, I commenced niy 

 wanderings. I took a seat in the cars for Provi- 

 dence, where I took passage in the steamer Lex- 

 ington for New York. On board the boat I found 

 a gentleman from Ohio, who had been travelling 

 for his health, and was returning home. I travell- 

 ed in his company as far as Pittsburg, and found 

 him an intelligent ajid entertaining man, and I am 

 indebted to him for much information which was of 

 use to me during my tour. Travellers should be 

 cautious of putting confidence in persons professing 

 to be agents for the different lines of boats, stages, 

 &c. While on board tlie boat I was exceedingly 

 annoyed by a fellow who called himself an agent 

 for the "fast line" to Pittsburg, and who proniised 

 to send passengers through in the fastest line with 

 the very best accommodations, I'or several dollars 

 less than the regular fare. I afterwards learned 

 that several persons were deceived by such per- 

 sons, and found, that instead of being forwarded by 

 the packet lines, when they came to the canal they 

 were thrust into dirty freight boats. One gentle- 

 man came on board the packet at Harrisburg who 

 had been thus deceived by " lying agents." There 

 are only two p,icket lines running from Philadel- 



phia to Pittsburg — the Express and the Pioneer — 

 one carrying for S15, the other for $12. These 

 lines are both owned by the same company; the 

 accommodations of both are good, the diflJerence 

 being in the speed. The Express goes through in 

 three and a half diys, and the Pioneer in four. 



Leaving New York, we passed down the harbor 

 and coasted the Jersey shore to Arnboy, thence via 

 railroad to Bordentown, passing the magnificent es- 

 tate of Joseph Bonaparte, thence down the Dela- 

 ware to Philadelphia. .\t the latter place we took 

 passage on the railroad to Harrisburg. After cross- 

 ing the Schuylkill, we ascended an inclined plane 

 of considerable length, upon the summit of which 

 the locomotive was attached to the train and we 

 proceeded onward, though at a slow rate. The 

 country through which the railroad passes is very 

 rich and beautiful, and as an agricultural district is 

 not surpassed perhaps by any district in the United 

 States. At Middlctown we came in sight of the 

 Susquehannah river, and passed by the side of the 

 Pennsylvania canil frcm there to Harrisburg. This 

 place is 107 miles from Philadelphia, and the time 

 occupied in the passage was 13 hours, and it ap- 

 peared to me to be an unrea.-;onable length of time 

 to be going that distance upon a railroad, but I was 

 told that the speed of the locomotives is limited by 

 law to ten miles an hour, and I can testify that in 

 this trip there was no violation of the law. 



I was surprised to find the capitol of Pennsylva- 

 nia a small and rather an ill-built village. T was 

 told, however, that there is a good deal of business 

 done, and in a few years it will probably become a 

 large and handsome city. 



At Harrisburg we went on board the canal pack- 

 et. The morning was beautifnl; the scene and 

 this mode of traveling were new to me, and I was 

 in high spirits ; but a very low bridge taught me a 

 lesson of humility at the very commencement of 

 my voyage, which I did not soon forget The ca- 

 nal for 15 miles is along the valley of the Susque- 

 hannah, and separated from the river in many pla- 

 ces only by the tow path. The mountains close 

 in quite to -the river, are covered with wood and 

 crowned witli round sugar-loaf peaks. The rock 

 is sandstone, dipping to the S. E., with a very large 

 angle, the strata considerably contorted. Some of 

 the cliffs are ragged and overhang the road -on the 

 margin of the canal in a very threatening manner, 

 adding wilduess to a scene at once romantic and 

 beautiful. Between the hills are little valleys or 

 glens, in which are situated snug and well culti- 

 vated farms, upon which I noticed large crops of 

 excellent rye, which I am told is used chiefly to 

 feed horses, the farmers preferring it to any other 

 grain for that purpose ; and if tiie condition of 

 their horses is a proper criterion, they have reason, 

 for I never saw animals in finer condition than the 

 Pennsylvania horses are generally. The Susque- 

 hannah is not navigable for steamboats, but when 

 the river is high, great numbers of rafts, arks, and 

 flats, are floated down from the upper country : we 

 saw several of these river crafts .passing over rap- 

 ids which to mc appeared quite dangerous. To a 

 persim unacquainted with canal navigation, it is 

 surprising with what little trouble the canal boats 

 pass each other. The rule is to pass on the right 

 hand, and of course the horses pass each other on 

 the left hand, the outside team slacking a little to 

 let the inside boat pass over the tow line : in this 

 way the boats pass without any loss of speed. The 

 rate of the packets is about 4 miles an hour. 

 (Continued on page 396.) 



